Category: Castroverde de Campos

This week-end I went to Castroverde de Campos for the christening of the Petit Bon Bon. She is the daughter of my spiritual son and Miss Speakeasy.

Castroverde de Campos is located 260 km from Madrid, so let me tell you: it was a long trip. This little village with not more than 400 inhabitants is the hometown of Miss Speakeasy’s mom. And has one of the best restaurants that I have ever been: Mesón del Labrador.

The restaurant owner is Miss Speakeasy’s uncle, and the mayor of the village and the owner of basically everything in the village. I call him “El Hefe” ( (the boss), although he claims to be a bohemian

The restaurant is a family business; his wife and son work with him and they have an amazing team.

The Mesón del Labrador attracts a lot of people from all around Spain and the world. Lately, the Spanish prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero had dinner there.

The food is composed of traditional Spanish cuisine revised with influences from all around the world.

El Hefe keeps traveling and giving classes all around the world, and this helps him to bring some new ideas to his cuisine.

We were lucky to taste his food on several days… either at his restaurant, or at his sister’s house, or even during the evening of the christening when he catered the hotel. The highlights of my pallet festival? The foie gras, the pulpo (the octopus), the beef and the veal chops (all grown in the region), the Paella Valenciana (saffron rice with fresh sea food and meat), the white beans (their typical way of doing it, with sauce and meat), l’empenada (stuffed pastry), the boquerones (white anchovies) and off course, all the tapas including my favorite La Pata Negra (cured ham made from cross-bred pigs as long as they are at least 75% ibérico.)

I understand why he has such a success: his food is tasty, his service is lovely and the most important thing is his passion.

I am going back, and I highly recommend all of you to make the same… believe me it is worth every kilometer you do